Huh?
Big changes going on around here. Big changes, I tell you.
Sadie came up to me the other night with her wubie in her hand. Her wubie is a cloth diaper, and she has several of them. She's carried them around with her since she was a baby and generally if she has it in her hand her right thumb is also in her mouth. She's in the 1st grade now and getting awfully big but just couldn't quite seem to quit the whole thumb addiction. Bless her heart. For the last year now she's been obviously aware that it was something she shouldn't be doing. I'd walk by her while she was sitting on the couch watching tv and she would look at me with those shifty little eyes while her thumb was in her mouth, just waiting for me to tell her to stop sucking it. I tried really hard not to nag. I knew she wouldn't be walking across the stage at high school graduation with her thumb in her mouth. At least I felt pretty confident about it.
So she comes up to me the other night and she's got her wubie and she's just rubbing it across her face. I looked at her and said, "You know. Looking at you and that wubie makes me think that I haven't seen you doing a certain something in quite a while". She smiled a big huge smile and said, "Sucking my thumb!"
That' it. Over and done. Just like that. Well, 7 years is quite a while but still. It doesn't seem that long ago that she was 4 months old and found that thumb and now all of the sudden she's just not interested in it. Wow.
As if that big change wasn't enough...tomorrow we visit a plastic surgeon in Oklahoma City to have Madi's special dot taken off. You may have remembered quite some time ago that we went through this same thing. Then we ended up not being able to have it done.
Now it looks like it's definitely happening. I know she'll feel better about having it removed but that special dot is part of her!
12.20.2007
12.09.2007
Photo Shoot fiasco
I've really been enjoying taking photos and learning about lighting and playing in photoshop lately. So I decided I'd take the kiddos out and do a little photo shoot and see if I could capture the perfect shot for our Christmas cards this year.
We head out with a couple props and Hubby comes along for the ride. Arriving at the shooting location we all pile out of the car and the kids start to complain about the temperature. It was chilly, and windy...but I think the fact that they weren't doing something they wanted to do played a big part in the complaining.
The problems started pretty much right off the bat. While trying to get Madi positioned on the wall I heard a big thud and looked over just in time to see poor Teagan hit her head. Bless her heart, she fell right off the wall and landed on her forehead. She immediately grew a huge goose-egg but after some tears agreed to try to take a few photos. Unfortunately, soon after that the wind picked up and Madi got a cramp in her leg while sitting down and everyone freaked out.
There is a photo of my siblings and me that immediately came to mind when I uploaded that last photo. My Mom wanted a nice picture of the 4 of us on Mother's Day (or maybe it was Easter?) one year. My step-dad took us to the park to get the perfect shot and ended up with something very similar to this one. It was at this point in our Christmas photo shoot that we decided to take a break. Off we went for some hot chocolate and heat in the car. Luckily, after just a short amount of time off from posing we were able to head back out and had a blast. It's amazing what some hot chocolate can do!
Now I just have to decide which one to use. These are several of my favorites but you can view the whole slew of them here. Take a look if you'd like, and pay no attention to the big bump on Tea's head! *wink*
12.05.2007
Coming Clean
So when I started this blog way back when I wasn't really sure what it would be used for. I initially intended to just have it be an area to vent. A place to come when I wanted to whine and get it all out. I thought I might want it to be a little private too. I didn't know that I would really want to share it with family and friends. Because of this I was also unsure how much of my real life I wanted to share here. Did I want to share the kids names and let everyone know who I really was? I really wasn't sure...and so the children all received pseudo names.
Things have changed now. I've been using my blog to share the life and times of my family with friends and other family members. Now it seems a little silly to be using these fake names.
So here I am coming clean. Please allow me to introduce to you my amazing kiddos...
Madilee Elizabeth
She was going to be named Parrie Elizabeth. Parrie for my mother-in-laws maiden name and Elizabeth is the middle name that my mother and I both share. My mom passed away beefore Hubby and I were married but she did now him and I think she knew that he was the one for me. She suggested one day that if we got married and had a daughter we could name her Parrie Elizabeth after her Grandmother's. I think knowing that my mom approved of the name is the reason that Parrie always made it to the top of our list. We never did use it though, which I regret. Perhaps I can talk Hubby into more children at some point and we can finally use it. So Madilee was a name that came about from a co-worker of Hubby's. We liked the nickname Madi but there were so many Madeline's and Madison's at the time we wanted something a little different. So Hubby came home one day and said that a co-worker suggested Madilee. I wasn't crazy about it at first. Then I spent a good portion of that evening writing a list of the many ways I could spell her name. I think I came up with 93 spelling variations. I still have that list around here somewhere, I think in her baby book.
Elijah Bradley
I remember the day that we found out we were having a boy. We went to Wendy's after the ultrasound and Hubby announced that he wanted to shout from the mountaintops that he was having a son. We talked about names that day and Heston was high on the list. We also really like Avery and I'm so glad we didn't go with that because I think it's more of a feminine name. Driving to Tulsa one day we thought of the name Elijah and that was that. Eli. We loved it. Elijah was shortened to Eli which ended up with all sorts of variations. Eli-Shmeli gets shortened to Shmeli...Shmee-Shmo...and finally just Shmee.
Sheradyn Elayne
This was a hard one. she actually left the hospital wihtout a name. She was to be our last child and we didn't know if she was a boy or a girl. We had decided if she was a boy she would be named William Foster after my father and step-father and then she'd have my father-in-laws last name. If she was a girl she would be either Parrie, Lydia, or Georgia. Then she arrived and I decided that she just must have a nickname and none of the names on our list could be shortened to a nickname that I liked. That night as I lay in my hospital bed Hubby called to say that he really liked the name Sheridan. I wasn't crazy about it but I did like Sadie. So we talked about naming her Sheridan and calling her Sadie. Afterall, Margaret's become Peggy and Richard's become Dick. Surely I could pass Sadie off as a proper nickname for Sheridan. Although, as you see I got creative with the spelling. Elayne was chosen because we decided to use a middle name with an "E" as the first letter so all the children would have one. She's our little Sadie-bug.
Teagan Elise
This was our wonderful little surprise baby. I remember the look on Hubby's face when I told him I was once again expecting. Poor guy. Then he decided maybe this was God's way of giving him another son. He didn't talk for almost three full days after we found out I would be giving birth to another girl. Of course now she's wrapped as tight as can be around his little finger. Before we found out that she was in fact a she, I liked the name Teague for a boy. I still loved the name when I had my ultrasound and discussed with Hubby using Teagan for a girl. We also discussed Emersyn (again with the wacky spelling!), Parrie, and a number of other names but finally decided on using Teagan. Now remember my whole has-to-have-a-nickname issue with Sadie? This time I decided to use her initials as her nickname and I wanted to call her Tess. That never stuck though and although she's usually just Teagan she still has a handful of names...Tea, Teague, Teagalyn, Teagers, and her teacher's choice of Teaganator.
So there you have it. I've come clean and now I won't get questions from people saying, "Why do your kids have different names on your blog?". Ahhh, what a relief!
Things have changed now. I've been using my blog to share the life and times of my family with friends and other family members. Now it seems a little silly to be using these fake names.
So here I am coming clean. Please allow me to introduce to you my amazing kiddos...
Madilee Elizabeth
She was going to be named Parrie Elizabeth. Parrie for my mother-in-laws maiden name and Elizabeth is the middle name that my mother and I both share. My mom passed away beefore Hubby and I were married but she did now him and I think she knew that he was the one for me. She suggested one day that if we got married and had a daughter we could name her Parrie Elizabeth after her Grandmother's. I think knowing that my mom approved of the name is the reason that Parrie always made it to the top of our list. We never did use it though, which I regret. Perhaps I can talk Hubby into more children at some point and we can finally use it. So Madilee was a name that came about from a co-worker of Hubby's. We liked the nickname Madi but there were so many Madeline's and Madison's at the time we wanted something a little different. So Hubby came home one day and said that a co-worker suggested Madilee. I wasn't crazy about it at first. Then I spent a good portion of that evening writing a list of the many ways I could spell her name. I think I came up with 93 spelling variations. I still have that list around here somewhere, I think in her baby book.
Elijah Bradley
I remember the day that we found out we were having a boy. We went to Wendy's after the ultrasound and Hubby announced that he wanted to shout from the mountaintops that he was having a son. We talked about names that day and Heston was high on the list. We also really like Avery and I'm so glad we didn't go with that because I think it's more of a feminine name. Driving to Tulsa one day we thought of the name Elijah and that was that. Eli. We loved it. Elijah was shortened to Eli which ended up with all sorts of variations. Eli-Shmeli gets shortened to Shmeli...Shmee-Shmo...and finally just Shmee.
Sheradyn Elayne
This was a hard one. she actually left the hospital wihtout a name. She was to be our last child and we didn't know if she was a boy or a girl. We had decided if she was a boy she would be named William Foster after my father and step-father and then she'd have my father-in-laws last name. If she was a girl she would be either Parrie, Lydia, or Georgia. Then she arrived and I decided that she just must have a nickname and none of the names on our list could be shortened to a nickname that I liked. That night as I lay in my hospital bed Hubby called to say that he really liked the name Sheridan. I wasn't crazy about it but I did like Sadie. So we talked about naming her Sheridan and calling her Sadie. Afterall, Margaret's become Peggy and Richard's become Dick. Surely I could pass Sadie off as a proper nickname for Sheridan. Although, as you see I got creative with the spelling. Elayne was chosen because we decided to use a middle name with an "E" as the first letter so all the children would have one. She's our little Sadie-bug.
Teagan Elise
This was our wonderful little surprise baby. I remember the look on Hubby's face when I told him I was once again expecting. Poor guy. Then he decided maybe this was God's way of giving him another son. He didn't talk for almost three full days after we found out I would be giving birth to another girl. Of course now she's wrapped as tight as can be around his little finger. Before we found out that she was in fact a she, I liked the name Teague for a boy. I still loved the name when I had my ultrasound and discussed with Hubby using Teagan for a girl. We also discussed Emersyn (again with the wacky spelling!), Parrie, and a number of other names but finally decided on using Teagan. Now remember my whole has-to-have-a-nickname issue with Sadie? This time I decided to use her initials as her nickname and I wanted to call her Tess. That never stuck though and although she's usually just Teagan she still has a handful of names...Tea, Teague, Teagalyn, Teagers, and her teacher's choice of Teaganator.
So there you have it. I've come clean and now I won't get questions from people saying, "Why do your kids have different names on your blog?". Ahhh, what a relief!
11.27.2007
Giving thanks and other stuff
This week seems to have just flown right by. It always happens this time of year. In fact, I think every year I talk about how it seems to go by faster and faster. I think that must mean I'm getting old.
Thanksgiving was at my house this year. My sister came to stay with us for a few days which was a treat. Although I was in a bit of a funk and she got to see mean-and-yelly-Margo which isn't very pretty. But she's my sister and has to love me no matter what so I guess it's ok. The whole family came on Thursday and we had fun chatting and laughing like we always do.
The kiddos found all sorts of fun things to do and they especially loved harrassing poor little Lucy. There's just something about a baby, even when they aren't really in the baby stage anymore. It's like a living doll to play with!
We had lots of great food and Johnnie brought his delish banana puddin' recipe that was handed down from Aunt Mamie. Nothing like some good old nanner puddin' with a nice glass of wine. *wink*
Seems like I have a lot of updating to do around here but it will just have to come when I have the time. A few things that I'm anxious to share are:
~the awesome Closer event that Marleigh and I went to a few weeks back.
~my list of must have's for Christmas stocking stuffers
~photos and details of my fancy new 'do
~our Christmas Photo Shoot fiasco and pictures
Stay tuned, there's more to come!
Thanksgiving was at my house this year. My sister came to stay with us for a few days which was a treat. Although I was in a bit of a funk and she got to see mean-and-yelly-Margo which isn't very pretty. But she's my sister and has to love me no matter what so I guess it's ok. The whole family came on Thursday and we had fun chatting and laughing like we always do.
The kiddos found all sorts of fun things to do and they especially loved harrassing poor little Lucy. There's just something about a baby, even when they aren't really in the baby stage anymore. It's like a living doll to play with!
We had lots of great food and Johnnie brought his delish banana puddin' recipe that was handed down from Aunt Mamie. Nothing like some good old nanner puddin' with a nice glass of wine. *wink*
Seems like I have a lot of updating to do around here but it will just have to come when I have the time. A few things that I'm anxious to share are:
~the awesome Closer event that Marleigh and I went to a few weeks back.
~my list of must have's for Christmas stocking stuffers
~photos and details of my fancy new 'do
~our Christmas Photo Shoot fiasco and pictures
Stay tuned, there's more to come!
11.20.2007
SPC - The eyes have it
For this weeks self portrait challenge we're once again showing photos of "what I wear". I wear...my eyes.
I generally wear glasses but this photo is from when Hubby and I went to Maine and I like to wear my contacts when I'm on the plane so that I can get more comfortable. Like getting comfortable is even a possibility on planes!
Anywho...on the way home my eyes were just killing me. My Dailies were on their last leg and I felt like there were cotton balls waded up underneath them. So I took them out but soon discovered I had no place to dispose of them so I just sat them on my leg.
The tiny airplane light bounced off of their rims, illuminating the blue ring that helps me locate them if they are dropped. The more I looked at them through my weary eyes the more I was amazed. I find it amazing that something so small can make such a difference in the way I can see. My vision isn't all that bad actually but you take someone like my sister who has glasses that are 8 1/2 inces thick and it's truly amazing that they can condense all that glass into a tiny contact for her.
(No, her glasses aren't really 8 1/2 inches thick but they're pretty darn close. The girl is blind I tell you.)
See what everyone else is wearing over at SPC.
11.16.2007
Happy Birthday Oklahoma!
100 years and counting! Today we celebrate the 100th birthday of our 46th state...Oklahoma! We are a state full of history and I'm so proud to call myself an Oklahoman. I wasn't born here but this is where I grew up and where my own little family now grows it's roots.
The kids school encouraged them to wear clothing today celebrating the state's birthday. Elliot chose to wear his Great Grandpa's cowboy hat that he inherited when GGpa passed away several years ago. Selah and Tess wore the shirts I quickly appliqued last night. My pack-rat-edness (yes that most definitely is a word!) paid off again when I reached in my remnant stash and pulled out the black and white floral patterned fabric. I decided to use orange thread to highlight the state applique so that the girls could wear these shirts to all their favorite Oklahoma State events. *wink* In addition, the girls are sporting their new $4.99 boots I scored at The Children's Place outlet mall in Kittery last weekend. Yee haw!
Our family will celebrate this evening by attending the Boomer Blast. This is our annual 4th of July fireworks show. Since we were all stocking up our wood supplies back in July in preparation for another building of an arc our fireworks show was postponed. The ground was just too wet to provide ample parking and recreation space for the amount of people expected to attend. So this evening we'll bundle up and picnic while watching the fireworks.
And although he doesn't read this because I've yet to share the link with him, I am thinking special thoughts of my favorite Step-Daddy today who shares a birthday with Oklahoma. Happy Birthday GPJ!
11.14.2007
Costumes and such
Well, it's about time right? For those of you waiting anxiously for Halloween photos of the kiddos I sure hope you aren't disappointed. I generally make all the costumes but this year I wimped out and every single one of them was purchased. I'm telling ya, this working full time thing is really putting a damper on my sewing! Although after finding this wonderful site I don't feel the least bit guilty that I haven't shared these photos yet. Yep, blogging without obligation. That's what I'm gonna do.
So this year we went to our church to trick-or-treat inside. It was loads of fun and the kids enjoyed themselves. Marleigh actually went on a hayride with her youth group at church, she's just about getting to old for the whole trick-or-treating. *sniff sniff* Not sure how my babies are growing so fast!
So here's what we had this year...
Marleigh decided the night before Halloween that she would like to have a costume after all. So at the last of last minutes we headed out and picked up this very groovey outfit.
Elliot and his buddy hooked up together and went as ketchup and mustard. They were pretty cute and Elliot enjoyed pretending to squirt himself onto other people that night.
Selah was, as she told everyone, a "grease girl". Basically she was Sandi from the last scene in Grease. *snicker* I tried to get her to say, "Tell me about it, Stud!" but she wouldn't play along. While I was getting her ready in my bathroom Elliot walked in and said, "Um, hello big long fake eyelashes!" Funny thing was they were actually her eyelashes with mascara on them!
Then we had little Tess who wore Selah's Wonder Woman costume from a couple years ago. She enjoyed waving those arm cuffs around to get the bad guys.
Lots of fun! Now next year maybe I can get organized enough to make the costumes again. Ya think?
So this year we went to our church to trick-or-treat inside. It was loads of fun and the kids enjoyed themselves. Marleigh actually went on a hayride with her youth group at church, she's just about getting to old for the whole trick-or-treating. *sniff sniff* Not sure how my babies are growing so fast!
So here's what we had this year...
Marleigh decided the night before Halloween that she would like to have a costume after all. So at the last of last minutes we headed out and picked up this very groovey outfit.
Elliot and his buddy hooked up together and went as ketchup and mustard. They were pretty cute and Elliot enjoyed pretending to squirt himself onto other people that night.
Selah was, as she told everyone, a "grease girl". Basically she was Sandi from the last scene in Grease. *snicker* I tried to get her to say, "Tell me about it, Stud!" but she wouldn't play along. While I was getting her ready in my bathroom Elliot walked in and said, "Um, hello big long fake eyelashes!" Funny thing was they were actually her eyelashes with mascara on them!
Then we had little Tess who wore Selah's Wonder Woman costume from a couple years ago. She enjoyed waving those arm cuffs around to get the bad guys.
Lots of fun! Now next year maybe I can get organized enough to make the costumes again. Ya think?
11.13.2007
SPC - what I wear
Ruby slippers are for traveling!
Hubby and I just arrived home from a very spur-of-the-moment trip to Maine. We had a great time and really enjoyed ourselves but there truly is just no place like home.
This shot was taken while on a short layover in Baltimore. All the other passengers had gotten off the plane and I was able, if only for a very short while, to stretch out.
There's definitely no place like home, especially when you're on a plane!
More of our travels to come in the next few days. Please visit SPC for more self portraits.
11.09.2007
for Emily
I'm in Maine! It's beautiful here but I'm typing on my phone so you'll just have to be patient for an update. It'll be worth the wait!
11.07.2007
fo: veil and quilt
So Eren recently clued me in as to what the acronym fo means. That would be Finished Object. It's rare I have any fo's myself unless there is a deadline. Which is why you're seeing these two lovlies...deadlines are here!
I'm am beyond pleased to announce that the veil I've been cursing for the last several months is finally completed. It's for Marleigh's volleyball coach who is getting married next month. I believe it was last February or March when she asked if I'd make her the veil. She fell in love with one at a bridal store but didn't want to spend the big buckaroo's on it. I figured what the heck, surely I can make it for a lot less. Of course, I didn't take into account the hand-beading and crystal drops I would have to put together. Plus, I've never made a veil and it's likely I won't be making more anytime soon. Honestly, I think it is just that having never done a veil and knowing it is for such an important event really stressed me out. It really didn't take all that long to put together but working on a little bit here and there over several months sure made it seem to drag out!
One of the things I love about sewing and crafting is watching a project come to fruition. There is something about having a pile of folded fabric one minute and then having a completed something soon after. Whether it's a veil, a quilt, a bag, a piece of clothing...doesn't matter. It amazes me every time!
Another fo I recently had was a quilt for a friend from church. Her husband is the junior high/high school pastor at my church and having helped with the junior high girls for the last couple of years I have gotten to know this family. I received the shower invitation on a Thursday and on Saturday afternoon I thought, "Hmmmm, maybe I'll make a quilt!" This is exactly why Hubby likes to say I'm insane. *snicker*
Knowing the time crunch was on and I'd definitely have to bend some rules I pulled out my favorite Amy Karol book and proceeded to pull out random bits of fabric from my stash to make her simple lap quilt. Of course, being "insane" as Hubby says I couldn't just piece together the fabrics after serious inspiration hit from looking at the cute fabric I dug out. I decided to hand embroider the solid squares with fun vehicular wordage. That made it take a tad longer but I was still finished in time to give her the quilt at her shower on Monday evening. Oh! And the backing is made with a Pottery Barn valance of yummy buttery yellow corduroy that I got for $4.99 a couple of years ago. See, it pays to be a pack rat!
I'm am beyond pleased to announce that the veil I've been cursing for the last several months is finally completed. It's for Marleigh's volleyball coach who is getting married next month. I believe it was last February or March when she asked if I'd make her the veil. She fell in love with one at a bridal store but didn't want to spend the big buckaroo's on it. I figured what the heck, surely I can make it for a lot less. Of course, I didn't take into account the hand-beading and crystal drops I would have to put together. Plus, I've never made a veil and it's likely I won't be making more anytime soon. Honestly, I think it is just that having never done a veil and knowing it is for such an important event really stressed me out. It really didn't take all that long to put together but working on a little bit here and there over several months sure made it seem to drag out!
One of the things I love about sewing and crafting is watching a project come to fruition. There is something about having a pile of folded fabric one minute and then having a completed something soon after. Whether it's a veil, a quilt, a bag, a piece of clothing...doesn't matter. It amazes me every time!
Another fo I recently had was a quilt for a friend from church. Her husband is the junior high/high school pastor at my church and having helped with the junior high girls for the last couple of years I have gotten to know this family. I received the shower invitation on a Thursday and on Saturday afternoon I thought, "Hmmmm, maybe I'll make a quilt!" This is exactly why Hubby likes to say I'm insane. *snicker*
Knowing the time crunch was on and I'd definitely have to bend some rules I pulled out my favorite Amy Karol book and proceeded to pull out random bits of fabric from my stash to make her simple lap quilt. Of course, being "insane" as Hubby says I couldn't just piece together the fabrics after serious inspiration hit from looking at the cute fabric I dug out. I decided to hand embroider the solid squares with fun vehicular wordage. That made it take a tad longer but I was still finished in time to give her the quilt at her shower on Monday evening. Oh! And the backing is made with a Pottery Barn valance of yummy buttery yellow corduroy that I got for $4.99 a couple of years ago. See, it pays to be a pack rat!
11.05.2007
A blow to the ego
I'm writing this in hopes that the next time I decide to throw a party at my house I will be reminded that it's just not a good idea.
There is a fairly new company out there called Piggies and Paws. They do the neatest artwork with your child's hand or foot print. I was invited to a party a month or so ago but wasn't able to go. So I decided I'd have my own party. Surely I would have a good turnout as it's a new idea and not every one has been to a million-gazillion parties already for this company. You know what I mean, you get yet another Pampered Chef invitation in the mail and immediately start thinking of ways you can get out of going.
In addition to having this lady come to do the Piggies and Paws party, I decided to set out the Cherry Tree Avenue trunk since it was already in Oklahoma. I figured I would be able to rack up some extra orders for my fellow CTA designers with all these droves of people who would show up for my party.
I spent the entire last week getting ready for the party. I cleaned, I crafted, I made follow up phone calls and emails to the 70+ people that I sent invitations to. I was going to have a great turnout! I had tons of people bringing multiple children to print their tiny little piggies and paws to cherish forever. I didn't even know what the hostess benefits are for this company and it didn't even matter because I just thought it was too neat not to share!
So my party started at 2:00 yesterday. My house was clean and ready with everything all displayed in several rooms. Tess wrote "Piggies and Paws" on the chalkboard in the kitchen and Selah made a colorful sign that read, "Welcome, welcome. Have fun!" to get everyone in a great mood. They were especially excited that this party included their friends and knew of several little buddies that planned on being there. The consultant showed up a few minutes early and started setting up. My kids and I flipped through the book of over 200 designs to choose from. They were just darling! I wanted one of each of them and I wanted to go back in time to when my own children were smaller so that I could freeze their tiny prints!
The doorbell rang at 2:00 on the dot with my friend S and her family in tow. I hadn't heard from her that she was going to be able to make it so I was especially excited to see her. Shortly after she arrived my friend K showed up with her son. It looked like things were going smoothly. Then 2:30 arrived, followed by 3:00 and 3:30 with no more ringing of the doorbell. Selah was in tears that none of her friends came and she cried telling me she was sorry I had cleaned so much and no one showed up.
70+ people invited and 2 people came. Let me just tell you, that's a major blow to the ego. Makes you wonder if maybe no one really likes you. Have you been blackballed and no one told you? I've dreamed all of my 34 years of having someone throw a surprise birthday party for me but honestly I'm wondering if that wouldn't be a good idea. I'd be heartbroken if someone went to the trouble of throwing a party for me and only 2 people showed up.
I cherish the 2 friends who were there. And I thank those that were unable to come who took the time to call and let me know that they wouldn't be there. For everyone else, pooey on youey! My feelings were hurt, I'm not gonna lie. I felt bad for the consultant who drove an hour each way to get to my house.
I guess the silver lining is that between the 3 of us who were there she made 11 prints so it wasn't a total wash for her. I'll have to share my prints here when they come in. I think they'll be really cute! And I also had my new soldered charms and new ornaments laid out and both friends ordered several of those. That made me happy.
Seriously though...no more parties! It's a shame I like to entertain so much!
There is a fairly new company out there called Piggies and Paws. They do the neatest artwork with your child's hand or foot print. I was invited to a party a month or so ago but wasn't able to go. So I decided I'd have my own party. Surely I would have a good turnout as it's a new idea and not every one has been to a million-gazillion parties already for this company. You know what I mean, you get yet another Pampered Chef invitation in the mail and immediately start thinking of ways you can get out of going.
In addition to having this lady come to do the Piggies and Paws party, I decided to set out the Cherry Tree Avenue trunk since it was already in Oklahoma. I figured I would be able to rack up some extra orders for my fellow CTA designers with all these droves of people who would show up for my party.
I spent the entire last week getting ready for the party. I cleaned, I crafted, I made follow up phone calls and emails to the 70+ people that I sent invitations to. I was going to have a great turnout! I had tons of people bringing multiple children to print their tiny little piggies and paws to cherish forever. I didn't even know what the hostess benefits are for this company and it didn't even matter because I just thought it was too neat not to share!
So my party started at 2:00 yesterday. My house was clean and ready with everything all displayed in several rooms. Tess wrote "Piggies and Paws" on the chalkboard in the kitchen and Selah made a colorful sign that read, "Welcome, welcome. Have fun!" to get everyone in a great mood. They were especially excited that this party included their friends and knew of several little buddies that planned on being there. The consultant showed up a few minutes early and started setting up. My kids and I flipped through the book of over 200 designs to choose from. They were just darling! I wanted one of each of them and I wanted to go back in time to when my own children were smaller so that I could freeze their tiny prints!
The doorbell rang at 2:00 on the dot with my friend S and her family in tow. I hadn't heard from her that she was going to be able to make it so I was especially excited to see her. Shortly after she arrived my friend K showed up with her son. It looked like things were going smoothly. Then 2:30 arrived, followed by 3:00 and 3:30 with no more ringing of the doorbell. Selah was in tears that none of her friends came and she cried telling me she was sorry I had cleaned so much and no one showed up.
70+ people invited and 2 people came. Let me just tell you, that's a major blow to the ego. Makes you wonder if maybe no one really likes you. Have you been blackballed and no one told you? I've dreamed all of my 34 years of having someone throw a surprise birthday party for me but honestly I'm wondering if that wouldn't be a good idea. I'd be heartbroken if someone went to the trouble of throwing a party for me and only 2 people showed up.
I cherish the 2 friends who were there. And I thank those that were unable to come who took the time to call and let me know that they wouldn't be there. For everyone else, pooey on youey! My feelings were hurt, I'm not gonna lie. I felt bad for the consultant who drove an hour each way to get to my house.
I guess the silver lining is that between the 3 of us who were there she made 11 prints so it wasn't a total wash for her. I'll have to share my prints here when they come in. I think they'll be really cute! And I also had my new soldered charms and new ornaments laid out and both friends ordered several of those. That made me happy.
Seriously though...no more parties! It's a shame I like to entertain so much!
11.01.2007
How slow can I be?
Seriously. Ever have one of those light-bulb-hit-yourself-in-the-head moments? Yep, that's me. I'm a dork.
So I'm here at work, pretending to be busy typing away on the computer. Intently looking at the screen as if I'm trying to solve all the world's mental health problems through our own little community mental health center here. Of course, I'm actually messing around on the computer. Hitting all my favorite sites and checking in on all my buddies.
So I end up over on my friend Megan's blog seeing what she's up to today. She has this terrific post about a giveaway for an incredible apron over on The Apronista Blog. The featured apron catches my eye so I head over there to check it out.
Now the Apronista is a blog I hear mention of often. I'm not a big apron wearer. Mostly because I think you have to cook to wear aprons and when your cooking consists of asking the kiddos where they want to go out to eat it's not really cooking now is it. Doesn't quite make sense to wear an apron just to wipe your greasy french-fry covered hands on it. Ya know? I do love aprons though, something about the flood of memories of my Grandma in her kitchen frying up a chicken I just watched her pluck the feathers from or helping her thread the dough through her very old school noodle machine so we could have her scrumptious noodle soup with homemade butterballs. Great memories!
Anywho...so I'm over on the Apronista and a blurb to the side catches my eye. It says, "~Eren is a mama to three boys and loves all that is vintage. She started collecting aprons..." Now I'm thinking to myself, "Self, that sounds like it must be my Eren they are talking about!" My sweet little amiga I met my freshman year of college, and became fast friends with? My Gamma Phi sister? The friend who cried with me when my mom passed away and rejoiced with me at my wedding and the birth of my first child? No way! I knew she was an apron fan and I figured maybe they were featuring her or something.
I scroll up on the page to see what sort of feature they have her on for. Imagine my surprise when... Lightbulb moment... DUH!
She is the Apronista! Or at least, she's one of them. Who knew?! Apparently not me!
Go get 'em Eren, you rock. And I seriously feel like I know someone famous now. *smooch*
So I'm here at work, pretending to be busy typing away on the computer. Intently looking at the screen as if I'm trying to solve all the world's mental health problems through our own little community mental health center here. Of course, I'm actually messing around on the computer. Hitting all my favorite sites and checking in on all my buddies.
So I end up over on my friend Megan's blog seeing what she's up to today. She has this terrific post about a giveaway for an incredible apron over on The Apronista Blog. The featured apron catches my eye so I head over there to check it out.
Now the Apronista is a blog I hear mention of often. I'm not a big apron wearer. Mostly because I think you have to cook to wear aprons and when your cooking consists of asking the kiddos where they want to go out to eat it's not really cooking now is it. Doesn't quite make sense to wear an apron just to wipe your greasy french-fry covered hands on it. Ya know? I do love aprons though, something about the flood of memories of my Grandma in her kitchen frying up a chicken I just watched her pluck the feathers from or helping her thread the dough through her very old school noodle machine so we could have her scrumptious noodle soup with homemade butterballs. Great memories!
Anywho...so I'm over on the Apronista and a blurb to the side catches my eye. It says, "~Eren is a mama to three boys and loves all that is vintage. She started collecting aprons..." Now I'm thinking to myself, "Self, that sounds like it must be my Eren they are talking about!" My sweet little amiga I met my freshman year of college, and became fast friends with? My Gamma Phi sister? The friend who cried with me when my mom passed away and rejoiced with me at my wedding and the birth of my first child? No way! I knew she was an apron fan and I figured maybe they were featuring her or something.
I scroll up on the page to see what sort of feature they have her on for. Imagine my surprise when... Lightbulb moment... DUH!
She is the Apronista! Or at least, she's one of them. Who knew?! Apparently not me!
Go get 'em Eren, you rock. And I seriously feel like I know someone famous now. *smooch*
10.30.2007
Walk Around - Finally!
Go Pokes!
Ok, so I've been a serious slacker blogger lately. I have a long list of things to blog and now I'm all behind. It stresses me out. Seriously.
So this is my story about our OSU Homecoming from nearly 2 weeks ago now. I haven't been to the walk-around since Marleigh and Elliot were little bitty. So we decided this year that it would be fun to go. Especially since little Selah got to help do some pomping on one of the house decks.
OSU has a huge homecoming celebration and it's one of the biggest and most celebrated in the nation. We're all about partying!
Marleigh was away at camp during this time but I took the little girls into the Gamma Phi house where I (and my mom before me!) used to live. Here I am with my two smallest legacies outside of the GPhiB house!
And on a side note, can I just say that I have a college work study here at my office and she along with a few other girls have said that my sweet Gamma Phi house is not sportin' the best reputation in town these days. It makes me so sad! Something about a significant member
So each of the sororities and fraternities pair up and make this huge house deck that is judged. Some of the houses also participate in floats for the parades. The dorms all do house decks and floats as well but the walk around is generally focused in the greek housing area. The hours put into these displays are just incredible. Members are generally required to put in so many hours of pomping each week leading up to Homecoming. It's amazing! Here is just a sampling of some of the house decks that we saw that night...
Here's a shot of the back of one of the house decks. They are made out of chicken wire and pomping is when you shove all these little pieces of tissue paper in to make the design. Seriously, it's amazing!
I know, I know. This is a long post but I'm still not done! I'm close though!
Selah's small group leader at church just happens to be the house mom and the Kappa Delta house. One Wednesday before homecoming the small group got to go have dinner at the house and then they got to go and pomp. She had a blast! Here she is in front of the deck she helped make!
And just for good measure and because he's too cute. (I know, I'm the mom so I have to say that but seriously. Isn't he handsome!) Here's one of Elliot that night. ;)
Hope you enjoyed OSU Homecoming through me!
10.22.2007
Random Ramblings
It's a rainy Monday here in Oklahoma and I'm feeling it. Just sort of seems like nothing has gone quite right so far today and although I'm hoping it will improve I'm not counting on it.
First of all, the family all headed out to OSU's Homecoming walk around on Friday and I took a ton of photos that I wanted to share here. Of course, I haven't had a chance to put them on so I spent too much time this morning getting them ready to upload to flickr. Then I figured I'd post from work, because otherwise I'd have to actually do real work and who wants to do that? After a good 20 minutes of resizing and entering into the upload box I hit the upload button and then *poof*. Everything was gone. Not sure what happened but I didn't have time to sit there and do it all over again.
Tess complained about her throat hurting this morning and was being extra whiney. She wasn't running a fever but I hated that I had to just go ahead and drop her off at school with her feeling cruddy just because I have to come to work. I told her to have her teacher call me if she didn't start feeling better. I'm sure she's fine but I still feel bad that I couldn't make sure she was fine before sending her off to school.
Then there is my credit card mystery. It's disappeared. I used it at lunch time Thursday and on Friday I realized it wasn't in my wallet. Actually, my boss used it on Thursday when she ran to Subway to grab lunch for us. She remembers handing it back to me but I've gone through everything, including the trash and it's no where to be found. There are no new charges on it which leads me to believe I've stuck it somewhere safe and no one else has it. But until I find it I'm just sort of out of luck in the money department.
And the big kicker is that Selah's halloween costume isn't going to come. I ordered it on the 6th of October and it said it was backordered until the 12th. Then I get an email saying that it will be shipping out on the 18th instead of the 12th. I called the beginning of last week to make sure it really would ship out on the 18th. They said it would. This morning the order tracking says that it still hasn't shipped so I called to check on it and was told that they are completely out of stock and it will not be shipping. Um, seriously? What the heck am I supposed to do now that Halloween is a week away?
AND... OH. MY. GOODNESS. It's a good thing that I decided to write in my blog. And it's a good thing that I didn't just go ahead and cancel my order when I spoke to the company on the phone a few mintues ago. While looking for the link to add to my post here I decided to add the item to my cart and see what it said as far as being backordered. Imagine my surprise when it let me order the costume and it said "in stock". Oh no you di'nt! I called them back and told them what was going on and this time I was told that the items were in and were being processed. Um, how come I was just told that I wouldn't be receiving the costume at all?
I'm supposed to have it by Thursday. So help me if that costume doesn't show up!
Wonder what other wonderful things will happen today.
First of all, the family all headed out to OSU's Homecoming walk around on Friday and I took a ton of photos that I wanted to share here. Of course, I haven't had a chance to put them on so I spent too much time this morning getting them ready to upload to flickr. Then I figured I'd post from work, because otherwise I'd have to actually do real work and who wants to do that? After a good 20 minutes of resizing and entering into the upload box I hit the upload button and then *poof*. Everything was gone. Not sure what happened but I didn't have time to sit there and do it all over again.
Tess complained about her throat hurting this morning and was being extra whiney. She wasn't running a fever but I hated that I had to just go ahead and drop her off at school with her feeling cruddy just because I have to come to work. I told her to have her teacher call me if she didn't start feeling better. I'm sure she's fine but I still feel bad that I couldn't make sure she was fine before sending her off to school.
Then there is my credit card mystery. It's disappeared. I used it at lunch time Thursday and on Friday I realized it wasn't in my wallet. Actually, my boss used it on Thursday when she ran to Subway to grab lunch for us. She remembers handing it back to me but I've gone through everything, including the trash and it's no where to be found. There are no new charges on it which leads me to believe I've stuck it somewhere safe and no one else has it. But until I find it I'm just sort of out of luck in the money department.
And the big kicker is that Selah's halloween costume isn't going to come. I ordered it on the 6th of October and it said it was backordered until the 12th. Then I get an email saying that it will be shipping out on the 18th instead of the 12th. I called the beginning of last week to make sure it really would ship out on the 18th. They said it would. This morning the order tracking says that it still hasn't shipped so I called to check on it and was told that they are completely out of stock and it will not be shipping. Um, seriously? What the heck am I supposed to do now that Halloween is a week away?
AND... OH. MY. GOODNESS. It's a good thing that I decided to write in my blog. And it's a good thing that I didn't just go ahead and cancel my order when I spoke to the company on the phone a few mintues ago. While looking for the link to add to my post here I decided to add the item to my cart and see what it said as far as being backordered. Imagine my surprise when it let me order the costume and it said "in stock". Oh no you di'nt! I called them back and told them what was going on and this time I was told that the items were in and were being processed. Um, how come I was just told that I wouldn't be receiving the costume at all?
I'm supposed to have it by Thursday. So help me if that costume doesn't show up!
Wonder what other wonderful things will happen today.
10.18.2007
Open for business
Actually, it was open a couple of weeks ago but I didn't share. I've opened up a new store over on Etsy. Still have a lot of work to do to get it looking all perty like it should. Maybe I can work on that this weekend. I wouldn't count on it though. *snort*
So this afternoon I took off work a bit early and somehow decided I would finish a project that was long overdue. I started this purse probably a year ago and had just a tiny bit left to finish it up. Got it finished, and got it in my store all this evening. Go me.
So feel free to mosey on over to my new little Etsy store. Hopefully I'll have lots more things to add in the near future.
10.13.2007
Friday Night Lights
So last night we went to the local High School football game. Go Neers! (Pioneers, actually.)
Marleigh had a friend spend the night and the two of them wanted to go to the game and hang out with their friends. Elliot was spending the night at a friends house. So Hubby, Selah, Tess, and I headed into town to watch the Stillwater Pioneer's play Enid.
It wasn't long before Tess was tired and ready to go home. Thankfully she found a leg to rest on...
And then a lap to sit on...
Selah entertained herself by drawing a pretty picture...
Later she was mezmerized as she ate popcorn,
and watched the cheerleaders do stunts.
Then there was the cotton candy. I told each of the girls that they could get something from the snack bar. Selah chose popcorn...easy enough. Tess on the other hand had to have cotton candy. Unfortunately the lady in charge of scooping up the cotton candy was evidentally on her first night doing so. She was all over just getting as much as the fluffy messy stuff around the stick no matter what sort of formation it might be in.
So little Tess ended up with a big mess of Pioneer blue cotton candy.
As you might have guessed, it made a pretty big mess...
All in all it was a fun night with the fam. Hubby was a little sad seeing all the parents there who were watching their boys play ball. He is all too aware that his own son will never be a football star. Or any sort of sports star for that matter. But as long as he doesn't end up like this poor guy who does flags in the marching band I think Hubby will be fine.
Marleigh had a friend spend the night and the two of them wanted to go to the game and hang out with their friends. Elliot was spending the night at a friends house. So Hubby, Selah, Tess, and I headed into town to watch the Stillwater Pioneer's play Enid.
It wasn't long before Tess was tired and ready to go home. Thankfully she found a leg to rest on...
And then a lap to sit on...
Selah entertained herself by drawing a pretty picture...
Later she was mezmerized as she ate popcorn,
and watched the cheerleaders do stunts.
Then there was the cotton candy. I told each of the girls that they could get something from the snack bar. Selah chose popcorn...easy enough. Tess on the other hand had to have cotton candy. Unfortunately the lady in charge of scooping up the cotton candy was evidentally on her first night doing so. She was all over just getting as much as the fluffy messy stuff around the stick no matter what sort of formation it might be in.
So little Tess ended up with a big mess of Pioneer blue cotton candy.
As you might have guessed, it made a pretty big mess...
All in all it was a fun night with the fam. Hubby was a little sad seeing all the parents there who were watching their boys play ball. He is all too aware that his own son will never be a football star. Or any sort of sports star for that matter. But as long as he doesn't end up like this poor guy who does flags in the marching band I think Hubby will be fine.
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